So I was orienting a new CNA the other day and as I was explaining our unit's routine and such, the ADON came in and needed to float one of our aides to another unit. This CNA said "Oh, I bet there's gonna be a battle over this!" I was confused until she told me that she "Don't float. I only work my hall. If they're short that's their problem." I was speechless. And an aide trotted right over to the other hall to work. Then, later, one of a coworker's residents was yelling that she had to pee. So I went to go toilet her, and this CNA said "That ain't our resident. Why don't her aide take her?" What the #%@#! Who cares? I guarantee the resident didn't care WHO her aide was. (her aide was with another resident at the moment) When I explained that in this facility, ALL the residents are ours and if the resident needs something that is in your scope of practice, um, you meet the need, the CNA was horrified. She made comments like this the whole shift. I guess I'll either break her or she'll quit, which may not be a bad thing. I'm just...that's just weird.
"Grown-ups" who do not want to waste their time on co-workers that do not pull their share. I work with a woman,(in her forty's) who I am constantly picking-up slack for. We are short handed right now so they are waiting to talk to her until some one comes back from surgery because they are afraid this woman will walk off and then we will really be stuck. Some times I get so upset I think it would be better without her at all. Patients complain about her too. I just can't wait, we have all been putting up with her for years and finally things are being said. I have been covering for some one as a float in my medical office. I am normally in the back with the patients, but I am also trained in administrative work and have been doing that for the last three weeks. When things got crazy my friend asked me for help, I send a fax, collected money from a patient and then went in the back and gave four immunizations to a five year old, then finished my filing. Any one who says "that's not my job" that is trained to do it, can find work else where for all I care.
I worked 16 hours on saturdays and 16 hours on sundays as a cna when I was in nursing school. I started out working the "blue" hall where all the total care residents were - until two people started getting staffed on that hall, then everyone started fighting over it. Then I was moved to the "orange" hall, which were the patients who really needed to be on the blue hall, but didn't quite meet all the criteria. I worked alone on this hall until several of its residents got moved to the blue hall and the census on my hall got low, then people started fighting over working the orange hall. Of course I was moved again ... story of my life!
Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
wow! I thought wages in my area for LTC CNA's were low....$5.55 an hour??? That's a disgrace.
My last job was as a nurse educator in a LTC facility, and I also did all of the interviewing and hiring. When it came time to discuss pay rates, I was ashamed- new CNA's started at $9.00 an hour, and the ceiling- with 10 years of experience- was $10 an hour. Many of these women were single moms, and I have no idea how they made ends meet. A lot of them had section 8 housing and food stamps. I was appalled that such a back-breaking job paid so little, not to mention the fact that many of the nurses (and most of the administration) treated aides like absolute crap. even those who tried to help the aides quickly became overwhelmed with the workload- it was nearly impossible to get it all done.
the problem is that, as we all know, toxic attitudes are viral- it only takes one hostile aide, or one lazy nurse, to ruin morale for the entire facility. I spent about 75% of my time trying to hire CNA's (which was supposed to be a minor function of my job), because our turnover rate was out of control. In North Carolina, I've read that CNA turnover in LTC is 80%!! I tried my best to hire people who truly enjoyed working in LTC, but all too often, those employees ended up leaving in disgust. Administration was completely unfair in disciplinary actions- some of the aides routinely showed up late (and we're talking half an hour or more), but were never punished, while others were fired for far less serious infractions. We were chronically understaffed, so the ratios were often unsafe- which worsened the already low morale.
I work as a study nurse in a clinical research lab now, and we have 'techs' and phlebotomists. (They're not med techs, as the only drugs we give are for research purposes and must be administered by a physician.) several of them have told me that they tried working as CNAs in LTC and couldn't believe how back-breaking the work was, and how little they were appreciated, so they found greener pastures. I believe our techs make $13 an hour, and phlebotomists make $15 (all contract positions). The atmosphere is laid-back, and the work is very low-stress. Only a handful of research labs exist in our area, so these jobs aren't plentiful.
I was always amazed when I interviewed CNA's who had been working in LTC for many years, and continued to enjoy it. I also handled worker's comp claims at that facility, and I processed at least 5 incidents a week. Many of the aides came back to work before it was safe for them to work- they simply couldn't afford the time off.
When i was in nursing school, I worked as a CNA in an ICU. Had I worked in LTC, I doubt i would have finished school- it would have broken my body *and* my spirit. I pray that I never have to place my parents in LTC, because I've seen that it's nearly impossible to deliver the care that residents deserve. The whole situation is terribly depressing, and I'm glad I don't work there anymore.
Unfortunately, that's not simply a lack of teamwork. That's survival skills in the CNA world. Let me tell you how it is (in some nursing homes):
If you really believe that "all" the residents are "yours," you'll find yourself taking care of "all" the residents, and you will be completely run over by CNAs who do not lift a finger to help you in return.
The result is, YOU burn out, and they're still there 10 years later.
It's very frustrating and it makes me angry to even have to think about it, but it is so true in too many places.
You just described my (past) life. I had the attitude all the residents were mine. Absolutely. The other nursing assistants, who were excellent workers (not the large number who were lazy), would warn me: you can't work like this or you won't last. I had some of the lazy ones who got my number fast and had me doing their work, and not being around when I had a two pt lift etc.
Well, my thought is that if you only have people on your team who are workers, who give and take, the attitude that "every patient is mine" CAN be a phenomenal success. But I have yet to see that happen.
Why aren't nursing homes more proactive in dealing with lazy CNAs? Because they are the nursing assistants who are at the nursing station talking a good talk, talking down those of us who are running our butts off, cause they have the time to: because we are doing their work.
I really loved nursing home work. But some of them are run like dysfunctional homes.
I could take no other attitude than "every patient is mine" and be able to sleep at night. I feel guilty enough for not being able to do all I should have done.
If you really believe that "all" the residents are "yours," you'll find yourself taking care of "all" the residents, and you will be completely run over by CNAs who do not lift a finger to help you in return.
once again, you have hit the head right on the nail. i believe in teamwork, and i believe in helping the other hall and i believe there are times when the other aides residents take priority over mine, however when i come in, i have a group of residents assinged to me, they are my responsibility and it will come back on me if the job is not done--or i'll have a bigger mess by the time i get to my people...too many times i've seen my assignment get behind because the other aides are piddle-farting around and i had too much compassion in my heart to go down my hall and stay there. six years of aide work in the LTC, four of those years in nursing school working 16hr shifts every sat and sun has made me bitter towards my co-workers and broke my back including the never healing rhomboid strain. so--if anyone needs me, i'll be down the hall finding my peace working at a even, steady pace, taking care of MY residents...:pumpiron:
I work in L&D in a small rural hospital where sometimes at night we may not have any patients. We are supposed to have two labor and deliver nurses in the house at all times, but often I am either working by myself, or the post partum nurse gets pulled to med-surg to take pts and one of the L&D nurses is pulled to pp, which basically means I work by myself most of the time. The problem is that when I am alone in L&D and have no pts, I get pulled to med-surg as well until I get someone in. It never fails. I will do all their "running" on 20+ patients (finger sticks, IV's, med passes, pt turns and cleaning, etc) while they sit and chart, then MY unit will get busy as heck and I have to go back there (already exhausted) to wade through it all alone! Now, I am all for teamwork, and, as my unit manager says continually, "We are all in this together," but still, it seems that the "teamwork" always runs out when it comes to my turn and it gets really old!
Often times when we come on shift, the supervisor from the shift before will be waiting to see "how long I think it will be before I will be empty" so I can go help on med-surg. A couple of weeks ago my co-worker and I had every delivery room and triage room full with people waiting in the ER. When we found out the med-surg had only five pts that night with two nurses and a CNA. We asked if one of the nurses could come help. The supervisor replied that they only had five patients, but two of them were total care and the other nurse was needed to help with turns and changes. We didn't even argue about the CNA because we knew it wouldn't do any good. I am about tired of teamwork! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.
Holy monkeys, I guess I have it good. It's not perfect, and sometimes I do feel like I'm working harder than the others, but I'm big mouthed enough to say, "Hey, I feel like I'm pulling your weight here," and they'll usually get back on the ball. This whole thread makes me appreciate the hard work my coworkers do. I love 'em!
I am a recent graduate of Clarian Health's CNA program (magnet hosp in Indianapolis) and we had nearly DOUBLE the time as the state requirement for cna is. I found it to be useful, we had some really great speakers and lectures, one on Professionalism, which addressed a lot of these issues.
At one of our clinical sites, we saw bad attitudes rampant among the other cna's. You could tell they thought, "Oh, good, students can take care of the residents... let's go smoke" We all talked about some of the crap we saw go on, and we all agreed that this is NOT HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE!!!
It's so basic, you'd think, but apparently not. I know I'm a great cna, and I'll remember my experiences when I finish nursing school!
After 25 years in business and out of clinical-land, I am semi retired. I work a couple of days a month in a SNf and love it. Excellent care given there 100%, but a rather ( to me) weird cultural thing. It's funny how the old rhythms return and you just get back into it. Of course, when I wasnt doing specific skilled TX and meds, I jumped in and helped the aides with hoyer transfers, skin care,toileting, you know, all the usual. My first evening there, the aides looked at me like I was from another planet everytime I assisted them. Finally, I asked one of them what was so odd about me being on the floor with them when I can be? The facility is miraculously paperless charting and its very quick so no more long hours at the desk. Anyway, Nurses dont do hands on at all there, and I mean AT ALL!! When in orientation, the alternate nurse kept telling me to quit helping the aides, just sit up at the desk... Thats absurd. Needless to say, I have the most cooperative aide team around. All patients are everyones patients all the time.
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Jupiter Crash
41 Posts
That is horrible I do not think that I would be able to work with a person who had an attitude like that.